Overweight pre-schoolers on the rise

By Ma. Lilibeth P. Patalen
Science Research Specialist II, FNRI

Overweight 0-5 year-old children increased more than threefold from 0.4 % in 1998 to 1.4 % in 2003.   That means 14 in every 1000 children are heavy for their age or approximately 160,000 children of the age group covered are overweight, a recent nationwide survey of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed.

The study also revealed reduction in the prevalence of undernourished children in the same age group.   The sharp increase in overweight prevalence however is “alarming”, FNRI said.

The 6th National Nutrition Survey measured the weight and height of 4,110 children 0-5 years of age in Filipino households and compared them with the International Reference Standards of the World Health Organization.  The three indices used to evaluate the nutritional status are weight-for-age, weight-for-height, and height-for-age.

Overweight children are prone to cardiovascular and other degenerative diseases in later life unless interventions are carried out.